MOTHER’S Day will bring only heartache for Joan Lawrence as the hunt for her missing daughter Claudia enters its sixth year.

In March 2009 the university chef’s family were “plunged into a deep dark hole”, when she disappeared without trace.

Despite fearing the worst, the 70-year-old cannot stop herself from imagining Claudia is alive and might have children of her own.

As police renew their efforts to find out what happened to the 35-year-old, Joan and her eldest daughter Ali Sims have opened their hearts to the Sunday Express.

Joan, of Malton, North Yorkshire, said: “Sometimes I wonder if she is out there somewhere. I imagine what she is up to, what life she would be leading.

“I even wonder if she is a mother now and that maybe I have other grandchildren. I imagine how she looks and what sort of mum she is.

“So many things go through your mind, so many scenarios. It is all part of the tricks your mind plays on you when you simply do not know what has happened to her.”

This is always a tough time. It brings back so many bad memories of that Mother’s Day weekend

Ali Sims, sister of Claudia Lawrence

Ali said: “This is always a tough time. It brings back so many bad memories of that Mother’s Day weekend.”

Detectives are following several new leads after renewing their appeal for information from the public. Claudia had just celebrated her 35th birthday when she vanished after finishing her shift on March 18, 2009, at the canteen at the University of York where she worked.

Weeks later police said they believed she had been murdered but nothing came of the most costly investigation in the history of North Yorkshire Police.

A website set up by the police to help solve the mystery has been visited more than 25,000 times since a new appeal was launched 10 days ago.

A total of 28 calls have been made to the investigation team, after they revealed they had found a new set of fingerprints in her house and the discovery of a man’s DNA on a cigarette end in her car.

It is understood police have spoken to an individual who came forward after detectives said they wanted to trace the driver of a white van seen near Claudia’s home at about the time that she went missing.